Where there are people, there are conflicts. As a department head with many subordinates, among the many things to handle daily, conflicts among subordinates are unavoidable. Moreover, when serious conflicts occur among subordinates, they can leave the department head feeling overwhelmed. If not handled well, they may even drag the manager into the vortex of conflict. So, how should conflicts among subordinates be resolved? As a department head, first, do not fear conflicts; second, correctly understand and treat conflicts; third, handle them well. [Where is the key to resolving subordinate conflicts?] To resolve conflicts well, a department head needs to grasp three points: first, be impartial; second, understand the conflict; third, do not rely on experience, but judge each case on its own merits. When resolving conflicts among subordinates, the manager must first act fairly, without bias or selfishness. If there is even a slight bias or selfishness, subordinates will surely sense it. Even if impartial, subordinates may sometimes suspect unfairness, let alone when biased. Only by being fair can a manager reduce conflicts. In addition, the manager must investigate and understand the conflict. The premise for handling conflicts well is to grasp and understand them. If one fails to do so and acts on assumptions or emotions, the result will harm both oneself and others. This is a common mistake: when encountering conflicts among subordinates, without investigation, one judges who is right or wrong based on feelings and emotions. Remember: employees you consider good can also make mistakes, and those with consistently poor performance may also be in the right. Therefore, to resolve subordinate conflicts, it is necessary to investigate and understand the causes, processes, development levels, scope, and nature of the conflicts. Only after understanding all aspects of the conflict can one grasp the overall situation, seize the key points, and act with purpose. Otherwise, the resolution may be incomplete, inadequate, or entirely wrong, potentially leading to more conflicts. Resolve conflicts case by case. Based on the cause, process, degree, scope, nature, and impact on the organization, the manager should judge which conflicts to resolve first, which later, which can be resolved directly, which need indirect approaches, which can be left to subordinates to resolve, which can be temporarily left to resolve over time, and which can be resolved with external help. In short, resolving conflicts should vary by time, place, person, and matter, and be judged case by case. Do not rely on templates, as templates are prone to error. Everyone has a distinct personality, and everyone changes over time, so conflicts among subordinates also change at any time and place. [What is the best strategy for resolving conflicts?] No matter how well conflicts among subordinates are resolved, they leave a mark on both parties' hearts, just like a typo: even the best eraser and correction technique leave traces. It is better not to have the conflict in the first place. Therefore, as a manager, rather than busy resolving conflicts daily and improving resolution skills, it is better to focus on prevention, fundamentally avoiding conflicts. This reminds me of a story. Once, King Wei Wen asked the famous doctor Bian Que: "Among your three brothers, all skilled in medicine, who is the best?" Bian Que replied: "My eldest brother is the best, my second brother is second, and I am the worst." The king asked again: "Then why are you the most famous?" Bian Que answered: "My eldest brother treats diseases before they manifest. Since people do not know he can eliminate the cause beforehand, his fame does not spread. My second brother treats diseases at their onset, so people think he can only treat minor ailments, and his fame reaches only within our village. As for me, I treat diseases when they are severe. People see me inserting needles, drawing blood, applying medicine on the skin, and performing major operations, so they think my medical skills are the highest." Similarly, regarding conflicts among subordinates, from the perspective of management cybernetics, post-control is not as good as in-process control, and in-process control is not as good as pre-control, achieving prevention before problems arise. In reality, many enterprise leaders, busy with various affairs, often only apply post-control when dealing with subordinate conflicts. If their conflict resolution skills are not strong, the more conflicts they handle, the more conflicts arise; the more conflicts, the busier they become; the busier, the more chaotic; the more chaotic, the busier. As a result, the organization falls into chaos, even unable to function normally. Therefore, preventing conflicts is "fire prevention," while resolving conflicts after they arise is "firefighting." [How to avoid conflicts among subordinates from erupting?] As the head of an organization, one should know each subordinate's temperament, disposition, characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses thoroughly, and arrange work cleverly in daily operations to achieve complementarity and integration. For example: if two people have incompatible personalities, minimize overlapping work; if two people have conflicting work habits, which easily cause conflicts, avoid arranging them to work together; if both are narrow-minded, avoid tying their interests together or letting them divide interests themselves. If manpower is insufficient and you must arrange conflicting subordinates to work together or share interests, both pre-prevention and in-process control are necessary. Pre-prevention means doing ideological work in advance, giving preventive warnings. After pre-prevention, do not relax. Keep a string in your heart, implement in-process control, and if there is a tendency for conflict, eliminate it in the process of generation. There are many methods for in-process control; the common one is private ideological work. If many people are involved or it is common, use appropriate opportunities to conduct targeted ideological education in public, either through stories or reasoning. Although no names are mentioned, listeners know who they are and will brake in time to avoid conflict eruption. If pre-control and in-process control are achieved, there will be no conflicts, or few conflicts, or minor conflicts. Then the manager can concentrate energy and wisdom to lead the team toward organizational goals. [How to face conflicts among subordinates?] Of course, in reality, the following often happens: despite careful arrangements, both pre-prevention and in-process control, conflicts still erupt, disturbing the whole team, and this repeats several times. At this point, you may be furious and exasperated. For this, you have three options: First, try to transfer one party to another position, the greater the distance and space, the better. Second, if transfer is not possible, ask one party to leave, or both parties to leave. Preferably both leave, because if one remains, similar conflicts will erupt again whenever there is an opportunity. Third, due to various reasons, neither party can leave. This is common because such people often have nowhere to go. What to do? The only way is to fight poison with poison: deliberately arrange cooperation on unimportant matters, allowing full friction, thorough running-in, and full eruption. Finally, both parties will calm down automatically, because after much fuss, one or both feel it is meaningless, and it naturally subsides. Perhaps they may become friends through fighting. This is a last resort. In any case, remember: such people cannot be spoiled. If they feel no one dares to offend them, the whole organization will have trouble, and the nature of the conflict will change. [How to face conflicts between subordinates and their subordinates?] In work, leaders often encounter conflicts between subordinates and their subordinates. One form is that the subordinate submits the conflict to the leader for judgment; another is that the subordinate's subordinate goes to the leader to report, essentially complaining. Such situations usually have special reasons. In such cases, the leader should generally distinguish the nature of the conflict. As long as it is not a matter of principle, generally support your direct subordinate's work, because you may not fully understand the entire situation of your subordinate's department. Generally, do not encourage subordinates' subordinates to complain about their superiors. Adopt an unwelcoming attitude toward habitual complainers to support your subordinates' work. Of course, if the subordinate's subordinate reports a truly major issue of principle, it should be taken seriously, but with full investigation and verification, and do not jump to conclusions. Even then, do not encourage subordinates to complain. An organization should have normal information feedback mechanisms and channels, not based on employee complaints. If subordinates complaining about superiors becomes a trend, it is not a healthy cultural atmosphere. [What are the skills for resolving subordinate conflicts?] First, generally resolve conflicts secretly. Because people have a face-saving psychology, private resolution preserves face for both parties. Therefore, resolve conflicts as privately as possible, not publicly. However, for those that do not hurt face and have universal educational significance, they can be made public to educate other subordinates. Second, combine principles with flexibility. Principles mean not harming organizational interests. Flexibility means not using a one-size-fits-all approach or dogmatic methods. Some conflicts should be prevented before they occur, some can be controlled during the process, and some can be left to develop from quantitative to qualitative change before resolution. Third, some conflicts are better left unresolved than resolved. There is a widely circulated historical story: During a banquet held by a king for his ministers, when the lights suddenly went out, the king's beloved concubine was molested! What to do? The wise king chose not to resolve the conflict, and the final result is known to all: the general who molested the concubine later made great military contributions to the country. This story is widely spread because the king's non-resolution produced positive results. In a sense, not resolving is also a method of resolution. Fourth, prevent drawing fire to yourself. The worst outcome for a leader resolving conflicts is getting involved in the vortex, which not only prevents fair and effective resolution but also transforms the conflict into a superior-subordinate conflict, changing its nature. Fifth, do not easily intervene in non-work conflicts. In reality, some conflicts among subordinates are not work-related, such as conflicts between lovers, spouses, or relatives. Do not easily intervene. Once involved, you may get trapped, because even a wise judge finds it hard to settle family disputes. Of course, these non-work conflicts may sometimes affect work. In such cases, the manager should do ideological work from the perspective of work impact and give kind reminders when necessary. Sixth, do not be soft on those who maliciously create conflicts. As the saying goes, "It's not the bad things that are feared, but the bad people." Those who spread malicious gossip, deliberately create incidents, fear peace, or collude with outsiders to cause trouble for internal employees should be decisively dealt with, firmly dismissed, without hesitation, regardless of their talents. 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